The iPad Remains The King Of The Tablet Market

If you own a tablet device, the odds are you own an iPad. When factoring in new iPad and iPad 2 sales in the second quarter of 2012, Apple now controls 69.6 percent of the overall tablet market. In doing so, Cupertino’s market share jumped 11.5 percentage points from the quarter before, according to iSuppli. In a long-ranging study of consumer buying patterns, iSuppli determined that Apple’s share of the tablet market is now at a five-quarter high. The last time Apple accounted for such a large portion of the media tablet market was in the first quarter of 2011. At that time, Cupertino controlled a 70.0 percent share. Meanwhile, Samsung currently controls 9.2 percent of the market, with Amazon (through their Kindle Fire) taking 4.2 percent. To date, Apple’s share is up 44.1 percent quarter-to-quarter. According to Rhonda Alexander, director, tablet and monitor research for HIS:

Apple is making all the right moves to rebuild its dominant position in the tablet space. The company is pushing visual performance boundaries with the new iPad, while providing value customers with a lower-priced alternative, the iPad 2.

In September, Apple is largely expected to unveil a so-called “iPad mini,” which could increase their tablet sales even more. As Alexander suggests:

With the expected entrance of the 7-inch version of the iPad in September, Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term. Apple’s major media tablet rivals, Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., hope to challenge Apple in the second half of the year, but will be facing formidable headwinds with no sign that the market leader is backing off of its aggressive strategy in the market.

Personally, I'm convinced Apple will remain the market leader with tablets as long as the App Store remains popular. After all, with each app purchase, customers are making a long-term investment that comes with no further costs since app updates are free. Because of this, customers would lose these apps if they were to switch to another tablet vendor. Of course, Apple's competitors are hoping that lower prices and an expanding consumer market will benefit them in the long-term. We'll see.

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